June 19, 2019 – Croatian clubs Dinamo, Osijek, and Hajduk have learned of their opponents in the Champions League and Europa League for the 2019/20 season.
Namely, Dinamo Zagreb will kick off their Champions League campaign this year in the 2nd qualifying round where they will meet the winner of FC Sheriff Tiraspol from Moldova and FC Saburtalo from Georgia.
The first match will be played in Moldova or Georgia on July 23 and 24, while the return match will be held on July 30 or 31 at Maksimir in Zagreb.
With its coefficient of 29,500, Dinamo had the status of a top seed in the first qualifying round draw.
ℹ️ The official result of the UEFA Champions League second qualifying round draw.
(matches 23/24 July & 30/31 July)#UCLdraw pic.twitter.com/Ms1mGm0Jr2
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) June 19, 2019
Sheriff is expected to advance over Saburtalo, and Dinamo should make it to the 3rd qualifying round. Otherwise, Sheriff is an old acquaintance of Zagreb, and in the last decade, they have met three times in the qualifying rounds for the Champions League. In 2010, the Moldavian club went ahead thanks to a penalty shoot-out, while there was no dilemma in 2012 – Dinamo celebrated 5:0. In 2013, the draw coupled the two clubs again, and Dinamo went through with a 4:0 aggregate.
In the Europa League, Hajduk Split will meet Gzira United from Malta in the 1st qualifying round of the competition. If they advance, they will face the winner of FK Ventspils and Teuta.
Osijek will enter the competition in the 2nd qualifying round and unfortunately pulled the most difficult rival. Namely, Osijek will play against the better of CSKA Sofia and Montenegrin club OFK Titograd. CSKA Sofia was a club both Osijek and Hajduk, who were in the same group for the draw, wanted to avoid.
The biggest stars of the Bulgarian club, which finished second in the championship with five points behind Ludogorets in first, are Portuguese midfielder Tiago Rodrigues and Ruben Pinto. According to Transfermarkt, CSKA is worth eight million euros more than Osijek, and Titograd is nine times more expensive.
If Hajduk advances past the Malta club, they will play against Ventspils from Latvia or Teuta from Albania. In the clash of the Latvian and Albanian teams, it is difficult to determine the favorite. Ventspils only secured fifth place in the championship this season. Teuta came in third last season and was led by former Hajduk player Tomislav Bušić.
The first matches of the 2nd qualifying round are played on July 25, with the return match one week later. Osijek and Hajduk will play away in the first round.
Rijeka is included in the 3rd qualifying round of the Europa League and will be a top seed.
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